Refuse collecting apparatus for a refuse collecting vehicle

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a refuse collecting apparatus arranged on a refuse collection vehicle for emptying waste bins into a waste container arranged on the refuse collection vehicle. A frame member is arranged on a said refuse collection vehicle, a lifting mechanism with a gripping and support mechanism for said waste bins is secured to the frame member and one characteristic property related to the lifting mechanism is monitored and comparated to information relating to the waste bins which is provided through reading bar code or computer chip prior to lifting and emptying it into said waste container. Such characteristic property being for example the applied current to an electrical motor drive and the information being for example the maximum weight allowed for said waste bin. By arranging the waste bin on the lifting mechanism the mecanism is activated or inactivated as a result thereof.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a refuse collecting apparatus arrangedon a refuse vehicle for emptying waste bins into container arranged onsaid refuse vehicle.

BACKGROUND

Refuse vehicles and numerous apparatus for the purpose of refusecollection are well known. A typical refuse vehicle consists of a wastecontainer and a hydraulic driven lifting mechanism with a gripping andemptying mechanism for waste bins arranged on the vehicle chassis. Suchlifting mechanism is usually very powerful and normally does notdifferentiate between light and heavy waste bins in the power applied.One of the problems that follow is that a very heavy waste bin caneasily crack as the bin is lifted and such power is applied. This maycause an injury for the operators of such mechanism. Also, some refusevehicles are provided with compactor for pressing the incoming waste,thereby minimizing the volume of the waste in the refuse vehicle.However, today it happens that unwanted items such as engine partsfollows the waste, which can easily cause damages to the compactor.

Today, there is an increasing demand for all waste to be weighed andthat the user pays for the waste disposed pr. kg. Therefore, somelifting mechanisms have been equipped with weighing means for weighingthe waste.

A number of prior art references describe apparatus and methods teachingthe use of weighing means arranged on lifting mechanism of wastecollecting vehicles for determining the weight of the waste bin prior toemptying. In WO 93/17308, U.S. Pat. No. 4,645,018 and DE 3,910,791 suchapparatus and methods are described.

Due to the fact that the majority of lifting mechanism is hydraulicdriven it has however been very difficult to perform an accurateweighing.

Furthermore, the working environment of the operator of such liftingmechanism has been determined quite severe and dangeours, and the safetydemands are being strengthened. Accordingly the most recent requirementsset forth require that the device does not lift certain types of binsheavier than say 1,25 times maximum allowed load for that particularbin. It is a fact that no lifting mechanism in today's refuse vehiclesdoes fulfil these conditions.

Also, lifting mechanism for refuse vehicles are generally made as multipurpose devices, i.e. they are used for lifting many different types andsizes of bins in the same round. Due to this it is quite difficult tofulfill todays most recent requirments.

There is therefore a need for a refuse collecting apparatus to bearranged on a refuse collection vehicle, with a safety device forpreventing that accident occur due to overloaded bins, and which fulfilsthe requirements and optionally where the weight of the waste may bedetermined accurately.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a refuse collectingapparatus, which fulfills the requirement set forth, and which utilizesinformation obtained from waste bins, such as container code data, todetermine at least one information for the waste bins, typically themaximum weight allowed for the waste bins. This has the advantage thatthe bins may have different maximum weight limits due to differentstructures. Some may have high weight limit, such as waste bins forindustrial use, and some will have lower weight limits, such as the onesused in residential areas.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism thatmonitors at least one characteristic property of the lifting mechanismand in response thereto activates or inactivates the liftng mechanismand thereby either accepts or rejects lifting of the waste bins,depending on whether its weight is below or above the upper weightlimit.

According to the first aspect, the present invention relates to a refusecollecting apparatus arranged on a refuse collection vehicle for liftingand emptying waste bin into a waste container arranged on said refusecollection vehicle, said apparatus comprising:

-   -   a frame member arranged on said refuse collection vehicle,    -   a lifting and emptying mechanism secured to said frame member        comprising a gripping and a supporting mechanism for said waste        bin,    -   a detecting means for obtaining at least one information        relating to said waste bin,    -   a mechanism for monitoring at least one characteristic property        related to said lifting mechanism,    -   a control unit for utilizing said at least one information for        determining at least one criteria for lifting said waste bin,        whereby arranging said waste bin on said lifting mechanism said        at least one characteristic property is determined and compared        to said criteria and based thereon the lifting mechanism is        activated or not activated.

In one embodiment the mechanism for monitoring at least onecharacteristic property of said waste bins is a measuring device formeasuring change in the load of the lifting mechanism or the powerrequired to lift said waste bins, such as by monitoring the appliedcurrent used by the motor drive. said motor drive being an electricalmotor allowing for example measuring of the change in load in the formof electrical current used for operating the motor. Another way would beto use a strain-gauge to measure changes in structural strain In thelifting, gripping or supporting mechanism and based thereon calculatechanges in force applied. Other types of monitoring means may also beintegrated into the lifting mechanism, such as weighing means. Onepreferred criteria to determine based on the information and thecharacteristic property is the upper weight limit of the waste bins.This is preferably done by obtaining information relating to thevolume/size of the waste bin, which may be provided through anidentification tag on the waste bins. Such identification tag may be inthe form of bar code, programmable computer chip. Based on the volumeinformation, the maximum weight limit of the bins can easily beestimated by multiplying an average mass density with said volume.

Accordingly, as the measured load of the lifting mechanism for the wastebins exceeds said upper limit, lifting of the bin is rejected bynon-activation of the mechanism. By providing the collecting apparatuswith an alerting system, wherein as the weight of the waste bin exceedssaid upper weight limit either in the initial phase before lifting orduring the lifting phase, the alerting system is activated or simply byrejecting it by the operator, which compares the actual weight to theupper weight limit. Thereby, the risk of the waste bin cracking isprevented and thereby possible accident caused by the fall of the bin.

In another embodiment the refuse collecting apparatus is furtherprovided with a computer system. Thereby, the operator may select anupper weight limit, which is stored in the computer system and whereinthe apparatus determines automatically weather the weight exceeds thestored upper weight limit or not. Example: in a normal residential areathe bins vary in size and consequently their upper weight limit variesas well. Typically there would be found 3-6 different upper weightlimits in the same round. Rounds are almost never homogeneous in termsof bin size. The same applies for industrial refuse collection, whichtypically vary in size—between 120 I to 1.100 I bins in the same round.

The lifting mechanism may in one embodiment comprise a conveyor beltarranged between two wheels (such as driving wheel and a sprocket wheel)such that the belt forms an endless loop, and is fastened vertically onsaid frame member. In a first position, the waste bin is hooked on thegripping and the support mechanism. The characteristic property beingfor example the current used by the motor drive for the liftingmechanism and compared to said criteria being such as the upper weightlimit. In order to control the lifting mechanism accurately, it ispreferred that the lifting mechanism is electrically driven.

In still another embodiment the lifting mechanism is exchangeable, i.e.different lifting mechanism may be secured to the same frame member. Itfollows that the same refuse collection vehicle can be provided withdifferent lifting mechanism and thereby the same refuse collectionvehicle may be used in an industrial area or in a normal residentialarea, where the upper weight limits are different.

In a further embodiment two or more lifting mechanisms are arranged sideby side on said frame member and wherein the lifting mechanisms aredisplaceable such that they may act as independent units or together asa single unit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following the present invention and more particularly thepreferred embodiment thereof is described in more details, in which

FIG. 1 shows a collecting apparatus arranged on a refuse collectionvehicle 11, a waste bin 1 and the lifting mechanism 13. As FIG. 1 showsthe lifting apparatus arranged vertical on the frame member 6. In oneembodiment the frame member is such that the lifting mechanism isdisplaceable horizontal and optionally vertical. Thereby, one or morelifting mechanism 12 may be arranged on the frame member and runsimultaneously. In another embodiment said one or more liftingmechanisms may run as one unit in lifting as an example the same wastebin. Also, the fastening between the lifting mechanism and the framemember is such that the lifting mechanism is changeable. Therefore, arefuse collection vehicle is not bound to the same lifting mechanism.

In FIG. 1 the waste bin 1 is labelled with at least one information,such as the volume and/or the type of the bin through a media such asRFID chip or a Bar-Code and these are extracted with a media reader 8which transmits information to a computer 7, which utilizes theinformation to determine at least one information relating to the bin.An operator may be provided with such media reader, or the media readermay be arranged on the lifting mechanism.

In one preferred embodiment, said information is the upper weight limit,whereby the upper weight limit is determined by multiplying the volumewith an average mass density. The weighing limit may also bepredetermined for different bin volumes, e.g. 150-litre bin correspondsto 70 kg etc. This information may be obtained as an example by scanningthe media 3 on the waste bin.

After arranging the bin 1 on the lifting and emptying mechanism 2, acharacteristic property related to lifting of the bin is monitored.Reading the current required by the electrical motor (12) to lift thewaste bin, on an Amper meter 9 through said computer 7 wherein thesevalues are used to read the weight of the bin. If the weight exceeds anupper weight limit, the computer 7 turns off a switch 10 and the liftingis interrupted. The operator may also stop the lifting manually. Thecollecting apparatus may be provided with alerting system, which wouldbe integrated into the lifting mechanism, and wherein said alertingsystem would be activated when the weight of said waste bin exceeds saidupper weight limit.

In the most preferred embodiment, the lifting mechanism 13 iselectrically driven, which has the advantage that the lifting may bevery well controlled and the weighing is exact. As shown the liftingmechanism comprises a conveyor belt arranged between two wheels, a motordriving wheel 12 and a sprocket wheel 5, wherein the belt forms anendless loop, and is fastened vertically on one side of the garbagecontainer.

As shown in FIG. 1 in a first position, the mechanism is in a verticalposition and parallel to the conveyor belt. In this position the wastebin is hooked on the lifting and emptying mechanism. Subsequently, ifthe waste bin is accepted, it is lifted vertically upwards by thelifting mechanism in the moving direction indicated by the arrows 4until the moving direction is changed and the waste bin obtains anecessary incline so that the garbage slides into the container (notshown). In this second position the driving of the belt is stopped untilthe bin is empty. The moving direction is reversed and the bin is movedthe same way back to the first position.

Another preferred embodiment is wherein the waste bin (1) is arranged onthe lifting and emptying mechanism (13), secured to a gripping andsupporting mechanism (2) and then moved with said gripping meansupwardly alongside said lifting mechanism. As the opening of the wastebin reaches the upper area (14) of the lifting mechanism, the mechanismand the waste bin is rotated about its upper end and arranged in such atilted position that the waste will slide from the bin to the alongsidearranged container (11). Thereafter the moving cycle is reversed and thebin is moved to its initial position.

1. A refusal collecting apparatus arranged on a refuse collectionvehicle (11) for lifting and emptying a waste bin (1) into a wastecontainer arranged on said refuse collection vehicle, said apparatuscomprising: a frame member (6) arranged on said refuse collectingvehicle, a lifting and emptying mechanism (12,13) secured to said framemember comprising a gripping and supporting mechanism (2) for said wastebins, a mechanism for monitoring at least one characteristic propertyrelated to said lifting mechanism,  the apparatus being characterized byhaving a detecting means (8) for obtaining at least one information (3)relating to said waste bin, and a control unit (7) for utilizing said atleast one information for determining at least one criteria for liftingsaid waste bin, whereby arranging said waste bin on said liftingmechanism said at least one characteristic property is determined andcompared to said criteria and based thereon the lifting mechanism isactivated or not activated.
 2. A refuse collection apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein said lifting mechanism is electrically motor driven.3. A refuse collection apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein saidmechanism for determining said at least one characteristic property is ameasuring device for measuring change in the load of said liftingmechanism.
 4. A refuse collection apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,wherein said measuring of change in loading being either measurement ofapplied force to said electrical motor or said gripping and supportingmechanism.
 5. A refuse collection apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,wherein said characteristic property monitored being the applied currentto said electrical motor.
 6. A refuse collection apparatus according toclaim 1, comprising further mechanism for monitoring a secondcharacteristic property, is a weighing means.
 7. A refuse collectionapparatus according to claim 1 wherein said criteria being an upperweight limit allowed for said waste bin.
 8. A refuse collectionapparatus according to claim 1 wherein said detecting means comprise aninformation reading device such as computer chip reader, bar-code readeror similar for reading information associated to said waste bin.
 9. Arefuse collection apparatus according to claim 1 wherein saidinformation being in the form of bar code, computer chip or similararranged on said on said waste bin.
 10. A refuse collection apparatusaccording to claim 1 wherein said bar cod, computer chip or similarcomprise such information as the upper weighing limit.
 11. A refusecollection apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising analerting system integrated into said lifting mechanism, and wherein saidalerting system is activated whenever the weight of said waste binexceeds said upper weight limits.
 12. A refuse collection apparatusaccording to claim 1, further comprising a computer system.